WEST FARGO, N.D. — The number of North Dakota farms seeking workers continues to increase, with no end in site, a panel of workforce experts said.
Dustin Hillebrand, workforce center manager of Job Service North Dakota, joined Mark Martens and Caleb Zook of Agri Placements on a panel entitled "Who's Going to Do the Work?" on Wednesday, Sept. 16, at the Agweek 360 Building at the Big Iron Farm and Construction Show. The panel talked about the scarcity of domestic labor for agriculture and how farmers are increasingly turning to the H-2A visa program to find help.
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Job Service North Dakota is involved in the H-2A program and labor needs in general through its job posting services and its work in conducting H-2A housing inspections. Agri Placements is a nationwide company that assists employers and employees in connecting and dealing with the intricacies of the H-2A program.
Hillebrand said that in fiscal year 2021, North Dakota farmers requested 2,444 H-2A visa workers. By fiscal year 2025, that number had climbed to 4,966.
"And that's not real long, and it's almost double what we were looking at," he said.
The number appears to have climbed even more this year. There are a number of theories for that.
"I think a lot of it has to do with some of the immigration issues that we're facing as a country," Hillebrand said. "We haven't seen some of those folks who were doing those jobs coming back up to North Dakota."
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He added that there's also a number of H-2A visa holders who are returning to their native countries — mostly South Africa — then returning as refugees. That makes some of them unable to return to the jobs they've worked for in the past.
Martens said the data supports Hillebrand's theories. There are about 1,500 employers in North Dakota using H-2A. He said the state is a small player compared to states that have specialty crops needing hand labor — namely places like California, Florida or North Carolina, with substantial produce operations. But the need is substantial.
Martens explained that H-2A can only be used when there are insufficient numbers of domestic workers. Farmers have to advertise jobs domestically and prove lack of interest before they can use H-2A.
All three panelists stressed that domestic labor is cheaper in the long run and should be used whenever possible. Farmers who use H-2A are responsible for paying certain wages, providing housing and transportation and other expenses that can add up quickly.
But Hillebrand said anecdotes from around the country make it clear that domestic labor isn't going to solve agriculture's labor issues. He said a farmer in Georgia reported his crop spoiling in the fields because he couldn't find anyone in the community to take a harvesting job.
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"People are not popping out of the woodwork to take these jobs," he said.
Zook said the seasonal nature of the work makes many on-farm jobs unattractive to Americans.
"We as Americans need to work 12 months out of the year to be able to live here," he said.
Those pressures, Martens confirmed, make it difficult for agriculture to compete for domestic employees with industries like oil and gas and construction, which often offer more benefits and predictability.
In places like North Dakota and neighboring states, with low unemployment and high labor participation rates, the competition for workers is even more acute.
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"Everybody who wants a job has one," Hillebrand said, noting there is an increase in people having second or third jobs.
The H-2A program can be expensive to use and difficult to navigate, but Martens said many farmers, in time, find workers who are good fits for their operations, including some that come back year after year. He and Zook advise that farmers who decide to use the program need to "commit" to it, not just dip their toes in. They also advise finding a trusted advisor to help navigate the intricacies.
While there are horror stories about poor workers, unqualified laborers and "rascals," Martens said he knows of a farmer who was very particular and never let anyone else run his sprayer. He had a couple failed attempts at finding a satisfactory worker through H-2A. But now, he has two H-2A workers he trusts: one who handles cattle and one who runs that sprayer that he didn't use to trust anyone else to run.
"Stick to it, and you'll eventually have a good experience," Martens said.